Bryan Adams has joked that he started taking photos of other celebrities when the ones he took of his own "bare ass" didn't get a reaction.
The Canadian singer-and-songwriter explained how he first got into photography at a preview display of images from his new book Exposed held in Dallas.
Bryan's interest in taking people's pictures began 14 years ago, after he wasn't happy with rushed jobs done on his own album artwork.
“[I started shooting self-portraits for my album covers because I was] sick of them being done at the last minute. I did an album called The Best of Me, a retrospective album… and in it, I did some nude photographs of myself, and no one said anything,” Bryan marvelled to WWD. “No one commented. My bare ass inside the album cover, and no one said anything. OK, I guess everyone is just so blasé. People were doing their own porn movies at that time. I can’t compete with that. My ass wasn’t as good.”
The first person Bryan photographed was supermodel Kate Moss. He joked that he got such a strong response from the camera confident British star that he was spurred on to continue snapping celebrities.
“When I start out with a blank canvas and Kate Moss walks in and takes her top off, what can I do?” Bryan laughed. “This is a book of my favourite pictures. Other than Mick [Jagger] and Tommy [Lee], all the subjects are people I’ve met as a result of working on photography. They’re not friends of mine. Some have become friends.”
Bryan's portraits cover famous faces from the entertainment, fashion and art industries, including Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Louise Bourgeois, Lindsay Lohan, Morrissey, Ben Kingsley and Dame Judi Dench. Bryan has followed up the 42 pictures included in his debut photography book with a second compilation of his shots. The next project is a more serious affair as Bryan has spent the past two years photographing British veterans who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’ve been working on it for two years,” he explained. “It’s pretty heavy. It’s all soldiers that have been injured or dismembered... The book will be coming out later, because I’m still shooting for it. There will be nothing like this, I promise you.”
